This year marks the first time in decades that Gary Williams won't be an official part of the Tucson Rodeo.

 Kelly Presnell, Arizona Daily Star 2020

It was 1999, and Chuck Henson’s best clowning days were long past him.

He’d spent a lifetime entertaining rodeo fans and protecting cowboys, and now, nearing his 70s, he was enjoying the fruits of his labor; namely, his daughter Nancy Jane’s nuptials.

It was there that Gary Williams decided to pull a prank on his friend β€” his hero, really. It was there that Williams, the former La Fiesta De Los Vaqueros general manager who retired in December, would have his most memorable moment in rodeo.

β€œChuck and I were having a drink, and I said, β€˜This is your daughter’s wedding night, and you know what’s expected of the father of the bride,’ β€” and I was making this up as I went along β€” β€˜but you cannot refuse a favor that is asked of you,” Williams said. β€œβ€˜Gary, that’s the biggest crock I’ve ever heard.’ He got his wife, and she said, β€˜Well, Gary sounds like he knows what he’s talking about.’ So Chuck said alright, what’s your favor?’ β€˜I want you to come out of retirement and work our 75th anniversary next February. He looked at me for a second. β€˜I don’t s’pose there’s any way we can keep this from Nancy?’ but then he said, β€˜OK, I might as well be all-in.’ He said, β€˜I’ll do it on one condition β€” I want you to come out of retirement and work it with me.’”

In a lifetime of rodeo memories, that one sticks out the most for Williams, who has ridden off into the sunset, handing off the reins to new Tucson Rodeo operations manager Stacy Madigan.

But here’s the thing about Williams β€” or maybe it’s the thing about rodeo. Even though Williams is retired, he’s not done making rodeo memories.

β€’ β€’ β€’

You really think you could keep him away?

It was a mid-February Friday in Tucson, and that means the rodeo was about ready to kick off.

For more than three decades, Williams was a nervous wreck on those Fridays, not so much fretting over the plans that had long been in place, but also the things that can’t be accounted for.

This year, he was able to kick off his boots and relax, even if he was busy as a rodeo volunteer.

β€œI was up at the rodeo grounds getting things ready on Friday, and I was comparing it to how I felt Feb. 18 of 2022 to two years ago how I felt, and how things had changed,” he said. β€œThis Friday I said to someone fairly early, β€˜Don’t ask me for any keys; I can’t unlock anything.’ It was the first time in over 30 years that the day before the first performance, I wasn’t anxiety-ridden.

β€œThis year I only felt responsible for myself.”

That marks quite the change for the only general manager the rodeo had ever known.

Williams was less than a month old when he attended his first rodeo; as a child, his babysitters were the who’s-who of the sport. He was bounced on Jim Shoulders’ knee while his father played in the rodeo band.

β€œThey were keeping their eyes on me when they weren’t getting ready to get on broncs or bulls,” he said.

Williams joined the rodeo committee as a volunteer in 1985 and assumed interim general manager duties in 1995, taking over full time after that rodeo.

In 2020, facing the impending shutdown of the upcoming 2021 Tucson Rodeo because of COVID-19 concerns, Williams realized now was the time to step aside.

β€œIt was becoming very rapidly apparent that we would not be able to host an event in 2021, and I thought that presented an opportunity to the Board of Directors to give them more time to, No. 1, decide what they wanted in this position going forward, and, No. 2, to give them more time to seek someone who had the qualifications and the level of experience in different areas,” Williams said.

Of course, it will be impossible to replace Williams’ institutional knowledge.

β€œHe was like an encyclopedia around here,” Tucson Rodeo committee chairman Mark Baird said. β€œEvery day I want to ask a question and I turn to him and he’s not here. It was tough to replace him. It was like, β€˜Where do I go now?’”

β€’ β€’ β€’

Finally out of the saddle, Williams is spending his time working on house projects and β€œreading an awful lot of books.” Right now, he’s reading about the Arizona Rangers, the statewide law from 1901-08. He’s found his rhythm in retirement, not too busy, not too bored.

It ain’t all it’s cracked up to be.

β€œOur generation, we were brought up to believe there was this pot of gold at the end of the rainbow,” he said, β€œThat at the end of your work life was this wonderful thing called retirement. But a lot of us, as we reach that age, we find that pot of gold isn’t there. A lot of people are still working who, given different circumstances, would retire. This was probably the first generation that had that rude awakening β€” that maybe retirement is all it’s cracked up to be.”

When you’ve got the passion that Williams does, retirement takes many forms.

He is still heavily involved in rodeo, remaining on the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association grievance committee.

β€œI never felt like I was walking away from rodeo or anything like that just because I was retiring,” he said. β€œI always looked at it as way bigger than Tucson.”

Added Baird: β€œTo have that kind of presence in a room, it’s kind of an honor to be a part of it. He was extremely connected to the entire community. This is his home. I’m sure he was honored to be such a big part of this entire thing. He always looked at it as we represent Tucson to the nation.”

That, perhaps more than anything, is what Williams will miss.

The chance to highlight the Tucson Rodeo on a grand stage.

β€œThat just sort of evolved,” he said. β€œI don’t think it was on anyone’s radar that eventually the position was going to morph into the face of the rodeo. That was an assumption on the part of others, that it would fall to the committee chair. Some didn’t want to do it, some weren’t comfortable doing it, some weren’t good at doing it. It happened through osmosis that over time, that was one of the key roles that I fulfilled.”

And what will he miss the most?

β€œThe people in rodeo,” he said. β€œThey are unlike any people I’ve ever worked with. They’re the best in the world. You can make friends with someone never knowing how close that friendship is going to be, but because we’re scattered all across the country, we might only see each other once or twice a year. But those times are held near and dear to us. We pick up right where we left off.”

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